Concept of Public Opinion and Democracy | Original Article

ABSTRACT:

The political natures of its data and the extent to which it may vitalize democratic politics theory have both been neglected at times by public opinion research. Bernard Berelson, president of the American Association for Public Opinion Research, reaffirms the fundamental requirements of a democratic politics and explains how opinion research can help a democracy to know itself, evaluate its achievements, and bring its practices closer to its fundamental ideals. As a result of the Elmira study, Mr. Berelson's interest in this subject has grown and is expressed in that study. The term public opinion refers to the views of the general public that are expressed in an unstructured manner and try to way public policy.